Drivers unaware of the serious consequences of failing to stop after an accident

Victims of ‘hit and run’ accidents and their families suffer potentially long-term physical and emotional impacts. To highlight the scale of the problem in the UK, in just over 12% of road traffic accidents reported to the police where someone is injured (17,122), a ‘hit and run’ driver is involved. This is the second year in succession showing an increase, reversing the trend seen over the past decade.

A new report by the Department of Criminology at the University of Leicester provides insight into the reasons why drivers fail to stop after an accident. Alarmingly, a large number of defendants involved in the study didn’t think the incident was serious enough to report or were unaware of the legal requirement to report it.

Drivers who ‘hit and run’ can be convicted of the serious offences of failing to stop and failing to report an accident which could lead to punishments ranging from five to ten penalty points, discretionary disqualification, an unlimited fine or even imprisonment.

The research has been commissioned by MIB (Motor Insurers’ Bureau) which compensates the innocent victims of accidents with uninsured and ‘hit and run’ drivers.

For more information please contact Sonia Raipal on 020 7380 8000 or sonia.raipal@tvcgroup.com

In just over 12% of road traffic accidents reported to the police where someone is injured (17,122), a ‘hit and run’ driver is involved.